I have for years fished for smallmouth in late summer on the Cumberland River above Cumberland Falls wading. The number 1 bait to use then is a rooster tail. Yeah, I know someone's gonna laugh at me, but I have went down there with 3 of those things hanging from my mesh had and 1 on the line and caught and released over a hundred smallmouth in a day. Now mind you, not very many are big, but on 4 or 6lb line with a light spinning reel and that little roostertail, those 100 10" brown bass, and river current, your arm will be tired by the time you get home.
Skipper